Textile spinning machines

ABSTRACT

An open-end textile spinning machine comprising a spinning rotor formed with an interior fiber collecting surface to which discrete textile fibers are fed by a fiber feed means. The fibers in the fiber collecting surface are twisted into an end of a yarn which is withdrawn and taken up on a wind-up device. The forwardly facing open-end of the rotor is closed by a closure member which cooperates with a fiber inlet duct for feeding discrete fibers from the fiber feed means to the fiber collecting surface. The fiber feed means includes an opening roller which is mounted at the side of the rotor for opening fibers taken from a supply and feeding them to the fiber inlet duct which forms part of a straight passage connected between the periphery of the opening roller and the vicinity of the fiber collecting surface, the length of the passage lying in a plane which intersects the axis of the opening roller at right angles.

United States Patent Greenwood et a1. [4 Aug. 22, 1972 [54] TEXTILESPINNING MACHINES 3,381,463 5/ 1968 Fajt et a1 ..57/58.95 [72]Inventors: Robert Greenwood Whalley, near FORE] N PA L Blackburn; JohnMichagl shepherd G TENTS OR APP ICATIONS Ilkley, both of England 443,326

4/1968 Switzerland ..57/58.95

An open-end textile spinning machine comprising a spinning rotor formedwith aninterior fiber collecting surface to'which discrete textilefibers are fed by a fiber feed means. The fibers in the fiber collectingsur- 1 face are twisted into an end of a yarn which is withdrawn andtaken up on a wind-up device. The forwardly facing open-end of the rotoris closed by a closure member which cooperates with a fiber inlet ductfor feeding discrete fibers from the fiber feed means to the fibercollecting surface. The fiber feed means includes an opening rollerwhich is mounted at the side of the rotor for opening fibers taken froma supply and feeding them to the fiber inlet duct which forms part of astraight passage connected between the periphery of the opening rollerand the vicinity of the fiber collecting surface, the length of thepassage lying in a plane which intersects the axis of the opening rollerat right angles.

12 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures [73] Assignee: T.M.M. (Research) Limited,Oldham, Lancashire, England [22] Filed: July 8, 1970 [21] Appl. No.:53,246

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 8, 1969 Great Britain..34,329/69 52 US. Cl ..57/58.95, 57/5891 [51] Int. Cl. ..D0lh l/l2,DOlh 13/26, DOlh 7/00 [58] Field of Search ..-..57/58.89, 58.95

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,324,642 6/ 1967 Meimberget al ..57/58.95 3,511,044 5/1970 Stary ..57/58.95 X 3,455,097 7/ 1969Rajnoha et a1 ..57/58.95 3,210,923 10/ 1965 Schlosser ..57/5 8.953,335,558 8/1967 Doublebsky et a1. ,....57/58.95 3,355,869 12/1967Vorisek ..57/58.95 3,370,413 2/1968 Rajnoha et a1 ..57/58.95

PAIENTEU AUG 22 I972 SHEET 1 [1F 6 mimmwazzwn 3 685 212 I SHEET 3 BF 6TEXTILE SPINNING MACHINES The present invention relates to open-endtextile spinning machines of the kind in which fibers are taken from asupply by fiber feed means and delivered as discrete fibers for feedingto an interior fiber collecting surface of a spinning rotor arranged forrotation, the fibers being removed from the fiber collecting surface bytwisting them into an end of yarn which is continuously withdrawn fromthe rotor and taken up on a wind-up device.

An object of the present invention is to provide an open-end spinningmachine of the kind specified which is compact whilst providing a goodpath for fibers to the spinning rotor.

According to the present invention, there is provided an open-endspinning machine of the kind specified, wherein said spinning rotor hasa forwardly facing open end closed by a closure member through which thediscrete fibers from said fiber feed means are fed to the fibercollecting surface of the rotor through a fiber inlet duct, wherein saidfiber feed means includes an opening roller mounted at the side of saidrotor for opening fibers taken from the supply and feeding them asdiscrete fibers to said fiber inlet duct, and wherein the arrangement issuch that fibers withdrawn from the periphery of the opening roller passthrough a straight passage of which said fiber inlet duct forms part,said passage extending from the periphery of the opening roller to thevicinity of the fiber collecting surface of the rotor and lying in thesame plane as that containing the fiber-transporting periphery of theopening roller. Preferably, said passage has an angle of inclinationless than 30 to a plane at right angles to the rotary axis of the rotor.

Two embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of examplewith reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation partly in section of an open-end textilespinning machine according to a first embodiment of the invention, withsome parts removed for clarity,

. FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the left-hand side of the machine shownin FIG. 1,

FIG. 3. is a side elevation of the right-hand side of the machine shownin FIG. 1, partly in section,

FIG. 4 is a section taken on the line IVIV in FIG. 1 of part of themachine shown in. FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a scrap view of a part of the machine shown in FIG. 4, in analternative position thereof,

FIG. 6 is a part sectional front elevation of a spinning station of amulti-station open-end spinning machine according to a second embodimentof the invention,

FIG. 7 is a section taken on the line VII-VII in FIG. 6, and

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a pneumatic circuit for use in themachine shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

In FIGS. 1 to 5 there is illustrated an open-end spinning machine whichis particularly suitable for processing long staple fibers. The machinecomprises, as best seen in FIG. 3, a spinning rotor 11 which is fixedlymounted on one end of a horizontal output shaft 12 of an electric motor13 and which is fed with fibers through a fiber inlet duct 14 formed asan extension of a cover plate 15 which fits over the open end of a rotorhousing 16 and which is formed with a cylindrical enlargement 17 whichenters into the forwardly facing open end of the rotor 11. The coverplate 15 is provided with a central yarn-delivery duct 18 and thearrangement is such'that fibers delivered through the fiber inlet duct14 pass to an interior fiber collecting surface 19 of the rotor 11 fromwhich they are twisted into the tail end of a yarn 20 which is withdrawncontinuously by delivery rollers 21 and 22, from which the yarn passesto a package forming device (not shown). Fibers are drawn through thefiber inlet duct 14 and into the rotor 11 in well known manner by theaction of suction applied to the interior of the rotor housing 16through suction duct 23.-

Fibers are supplied to the fiberinlet duct 14 by fiber feed means towhich a sliver or roving of suitable fibers is continuously fed througha feed trumpet 24. A feed roller 25 which rotates in the directionindicated by the arrow A and which is provided with teeth or spikes 26,picks up fibers from the sliver and carries them round to an openingroller 27 rotating in the direction in dicated by the arrow B. Theopening roller 27 is provided with pinned bars 28 which pick up thefibers carried round by the feed roller 25 and forward them to a fiberdelivery duct 29 formed in an opening roller housing 30 and registeringwith the fiber inlet duct 14.

' Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the opening roller same plane as thatof the fiber path around the rollers.

The straight passage formed by the ducts 14 and 29 is inclined at anangle 16 to the plane at right angles to the rotary axis to the rotor11, thereby providing a good path for fibers to the fiber collectingsurface and generally providing a compact unit. Withdrawal of yarn fromthe front of the spinning device is not obstructed by the fiber inletduct and threading of yarn is made a relatively easy task.

The cover plate 15 closing the open end of the rotor 11 is held in theclosed position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 by a spring clip 31 and arotary catch 32 operated by a handle 33, the arrangement being suchthat, when the handle 33 is turned from the position shown in FIG. 4through an angleof to that shown in FIG. 5, the catch 32 turns to aposition in which a flat 34 thereon releases it from engagement by aprojection 35 fixed on the rotor housing 16. In this position of thecatch 32, the cover plate 15 can be withdrawn, together with the catch32 and handle 33, forwardly of the machine if at the same time thespring 31 is pulled back to release the other side of the cover plate.Rod 49 carries a cross bar 50 which engages in a slot formed in thecatch 32. The other end of the rod 49 has fixedly secured thereto a cam36 which in the position shown in FIG. 1 holds apart spring loaded arms37 and 38 of a brake device for braking the motor shaft 12 carrying therotor 11, and the arrangement is such that the handle 33 when. turned torelease the cover plate 15 turns the cam 36 through an angle of 90 toallow the spring loaded arms that by the simple operation of turning thehandle 33 the spinning rotor 11 is brought to rest and by additionallyholding back the spring clip 31 the cover plate 15 may be movedforwardly without obstacle and the interior of the spinning rotorinspected.

Access to the periphery of the opening roller 27 for inspection andcleaning can be gained by swinging open a front cover plate 41 by meansof a handle 42. The front cover plate 41 is fixedly mounted on a rotaryshaft 51 and when displaced to the open position causes the angularturning of a cam 43 on the other end of shaft 51 from the position shownin FIG. 2 in which it holds apart a pair of spring loaded brake arms 44and 45 to a position in which the brake arms come together and causebrake pads 46 and 47 thereon to bear against a brake drum 48 carried onthe other end of the motor output shaft 39 and bring the opening roller27 to rest.

The fiber collecting surface may be provided with needles to assist inretaining the fibers until they are picked up by a rotating end of yarnto be twistedtherein in the manner well known in open end spinningmachines.

On end breakage the feed roller is stopped and any fibers remaining inthe rotor are sucked away through the suction duct 23. Any fiberstrapped between the rotor 11 and the cover plate 15 can be dislodged andsucked away simply by removing or partially removing the cover plate 15.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, the main frame of the machine isdesignated by the reference numeral 101 and the fiber opening andspinning means for each station is fixedly located within the main frameby a sub-frame 102. Attached to each sub-frame 102 are two pillars 103and 104 on which are slidably mounted a housing 105 containing thefiber-opening means and a housing 122 containing the spinning means.

Within the housing 105 is a fluted feed roller 106 fixed to a shaft 107which is rotatably mounted in a pair of plain bearings 108 and 109. Thedrive for the roller 106 is obtained from a chain 1 through a chainwheel 111 and an electromagnetic clutch 112. Co-operating with thefluted feed roller 106 is a pedal 113, pivotally mounted on a supportmember 136 at a point 114 and resiliently biased against the feed roller106 by a spring 1 Also mounted within housing 105 is an opening roller116 suitably clothed with saw-tooth wire or needles on its peripheralsurface. The opening roller 116 is fixed on one end of a shaft 117 whichis rotatably mounted in a pair of anti-friction bearing 118 and 119 andthe drive for the roller 1 16 is obtained from a driving belt 120 infrictional engagement with a pulley 121 mounted on the other end of theshaft 117. A cover 138 is fixed to the housing 105 in front of theopening roller 116.

A second housing 122 slideably mounted in pillars 103 and 104 ispositioned below the housing 105 and serves to contain the spinningmeans. The spinning means consists of a rotor 123 fixedly mounted ononeend of a shaft 124 rotatably supported within a bearing housing 125. Thedrive for the spinning rotor 123 is obtained from a driving belt 126 infrictional Contact with a pulley 127 mounted at the other end of theshaft 124.

A closure member 128 is hingedly attached to the housing 122 by brackets129 and hinge pin 155 and contains a fiber feed duct 130 and, on theaxis of the spinning rotor, a yarn delivery tube 131, through which spunyarn 156 is withdrawn from the rotor by a pair of delivery rollers 132and 133.

Suction is applied to the interior 134 of the housing 122 through anopening 135 from an extemal source (not shown).

The housings 105 and 122 are shown in their normal working positions,that is to say, at their uppermost positions, and they are held in thesepositions by supplying air to a pneumatic cylinder 139 positionedbeneath the housing 122. A simple pneumatic circuit for the operation ofthis cylinder is shown in FIG. 8. A main pressurized air line 140, whichserves all the spinning stations of the machine, is tapped by an airline 141 and a valve 142 is employed for controlling the supply of airto the cylinder 139. In the position A of the piston of the valve 142,pressurized air enters through inlet port 143 and passes out through anoutlet port 144 into air line 145 to move cylinder 139 to its uppermostposition. To lower the cylinder 139, the piston of the valve 142 ismoved to the position B, whereby inlet port 143 is closed, thus shuttingoff the supply of air, and exhaust port 146 is opened allowing air fromcylinder 139 to be exhausted by the downward force applied to it by thehousings and 122.

In operation, a sliver or roving 157 from a supply, not shown, is fedbetween the nip provided by the fluted feed roller 106 and theco-operating feed pedal 113 to be delivered to the opening rollerll6vfor opening and combing thereby. The fibers are taken round on theperiphery of the opening roller 116 until discharged into an outletopening 147 formed in the housing 105. The fibers are transported in anairstream derived from suction developed in opening 135 and pass indiscrete form down fiber feed duct to be deposited as a ring of fiberson fiber collecting surface 148 of the spinning rotor 123, from whichthey are withdrawn as the spun yarn 156 through yarn delivery tube 131by the delivery rollers 132 and 133, and the yarn is then wound on apackage in a conventional manner.

The dispositions of the various parts of the machine shown in FIGS. 6and 7 are such that the fibers fed in sliver or roving form pass aroundthe feed roller 106 and the opening roller 116 in curved paths in asingle plane and are taken from the periphery of the opening roller 116into a straight passage comprising the outlet duct 147 and the fiberfeed duct 130, still lying in approximately the same plane as that ofthe fiber path round the rollers. The exit of the duct 130 is pointeddirectly toward the fiber collecting surface 148 so that fibers are laidreadily thereon, and the straight passage formed by the ducts 130 and147 is inclined at an angle of 25 to a plane at right angles to therotor, thereby providing a good path for fibers to the fiber collectingsurface and generally providing a compact unit. Withdrawal of yarn fromthe front of the spinning device is not obstructed by the fiber inletduct and threading of yarn is made a relatively easy task.

If it is desired to inspect the spinning rotor or if, for example, thespinning rotor requires cleaning, without interrupting the spinning ofyarn at any of the other spinning stations, the valve 142 is moved tothe position B as shown in broken line, thus allowing air to beexhausted from the cylinder 139 through air line 145 and out throughexhaust port 146 in the valve body. The housings 105 and 122 are thuslowered together on pillars 103 and 104 until the upper housing 105comes up against stops 149 fixedly mounted on the pillars 103 and 104and there comes to rest. At the same time, the chain wheel 111 is takenout of engagement with driving chain 110, thereby disenaging the driveto the feed roller 106. Similarly, the drive to the opening roller 116is disengaged by the driving pulley 121 moving out of contact with belt120. Braking of the opening roller 116 is effected by pulley 121 cominginto contact with brake shoes 150.

After the upper housing 105 has come to rest, the lower housing 122continues to move downwardly and the drive to the rotor 123 isdisengaged by its driving pulley 127 being taken out of contact with thedriving belt 126. Braking of the rotor 123 is effected by brake shoes151 which are fixedly mounted on the machine frame and with which thepulley 127 engages upon the lowering of the housing 122. At the bottomof the stroke of the cylinder 139, the upper face ofthe closure member128 is sufficiently clear of the lower face of the upper housing 105that the closure member 128 can be swung forwardly on pivot brackets 129to give clear access to the spinning rotor 123. A flexible connection152 between the two rigid sections 153 and 154 of the suction duct isprovided to allow for the downward movement of the lower housing 122.

On switching off the whole machine, the air supply to the cylinders 139is cutoff and all the housings 105 and 122 along the machine aresimultaneously lowered.

it will be seen that maintenance of the spinning means can be simple andquickly carried out, while, from a safety view point, access to thespinning rotor 123 cannot be gained when the housings are in theirnormal working positions.

We claim:

1. An open-end textile spinning machine comprising a spinning rotorarranged for rotation, an interior fiber collecting surface formedwithin the rotor, fiber feed means for taking fibers from the supply anddelivering them as discrete fibers to the interior fiber collectingsurface, a wind-up device for withdrawing and taking up an end of yarntwisted from the fibers in the fiber collecting surface, a closuremember for closing the forwardly facing open-end of the rotor, a fiberinlet duct feeding discrete fibers from said fiber feed means to saidfiber collecting surface of the rotor through said closure member, anopening roller forming part of the fiber feed means and mounted at theside of the said roller for opening fibers taken from the supply andfeeding them as discrete fibers to said fiber inlet duct, and a straightpassage including said fiber inlet duct and connected between theperiphery of the opening roller and the vicinity of the fiber collectingsurface, the length of the passage lying in a plane which intersects theaxis of the opening roller at right angles.

2. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said passage has an angle ofinclination not greater than 30 to a plane at right angles to the rotaryaxis of the spinning rotor.

3. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the roe riia riia lifi firi eri Sioi"1% %%%ii "mll% and said passage. I 4. A machine according toclaim 1, wherein the passage extends from the periphery of the openingroller at a forwardly region of the periphery.

5'. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the axis ,of the openingroller is at right angles to the rotary axis of the spinning rotor.

6. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said passage hasan angle ofinclination less than 20 to a plane at right angles to the rotary axisof the spinning rotor.

7. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the rotary axis of the rotorlies in a plane at right angles to the plane containing the fibertransporting periphery of the opening roller and said passage.

8. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said passage has an angle ofinclination of 25 or substantially 25to a plane at right angles to therotary axis of the spinning rotor.

9. A machine according to 1 wherein said rotor is contained in a rotorhousing having an open front end, wherein the closure member takes theform of a cover plate adapted to fit over the open front end of therotor housing, and wherein said fiber inlet duct is formed in anextension of the cover plate.

10. A machine according to claim 9, wherein said passage includes afiber delivery duct which is formed in a housing containing said openingroller and which registers with said fiber inlet duct.

11. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the opening roller isarranged to be fed with fibers by a feed roller cooperating therewithand wherein the arrangement is such that the fiber transportingperiphery of the feed roller lies in the said plane containing the fibertransporting periphery of the opening roller and said passage.

12. A machine according to claim 11, wherein said feed roller isprovided with teeth or spikes to pick fibers from a sliver fed theretothrough a sliver feed duct.

1. An open-end textile spinning machine comprising a spinning rotorarranged for rotation, an interior fiber collecting surface formedwithin the rotor, fiber feed means for taking fibers from the supply anddelivering them as discrete fibers to the interior fiber collectingsurface, a wind-up device for withdrawing and taking up an end of yarntwisted from the fibers in the fiber collecting surface, a closuremember for closing the forwardly facing open-end of the rotor, a fiberinlet duct feeding discrete fibers from said fiber feed means to saidfiber collecting surface of the rotor through said closure member, anopening roller forming part of the fiber feed means and mounted at theside of the said roller for opening fibers taken from the supply andfeeding them as discrete fibers to said fiber inlet duct, and a straightpassage including said fiber inlet duct and connected between theperiphery of the opening roller and the vicinity of the fiber collectingsurface, the length of the passage lying in a plane which intersects theaxis of the opening roller at right angles.
 2. A machine according toclaim 1, wherein said passage has an angle of inclination not greaterthan 30* to a plane at right angles to the rotary axis of the spinningrotor.
 3. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the rotary axis of therotor is parallel to the plane containing the fiber transportingperiphery of the opening roller and said passage.
 4. A machine accordingto claim 1, wherein the passage extends from the periphery of theopening roller at a forwardly region of the periphery.
 5. A machineaccording to claim 1, wherein the axis of the opening roller is at rightangles to the rotary axis of the spinning rotor.
 6. A machine accordingto claim 1, wherein said passage has an angle of inclination less than20* to a plane at right angles to the rotary axis of the spinning rotor.7. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the rotary axis of the rotorlies in a plane at right angles to the plane containing the fibertransporting periphery of the opening roller and said passage.
 8. Amachine according to claim 1, wherein said passage has an angle ofinclination of 25* or substantially 25*to a plane at right angles to therotary axis of the spinning rotor.
 9. A machine according to 1 whereinsaid rotor is contained in a rotor housing having an open front end,wherein the closure member takes the form of a cover plate adapted tofit over the open front end of the rotor housing, and wherein said fiberinlet duct is formed in an extension of the cover plate.
 10. A machineaccording to claim 9, wherein said passaGe includes a fiber deliveryduct which is formed in a housing containing said opening roller andwhich registers with said fiber inlet duct.
 11. A machine according toclaim 1, wherein the opening roller is arranged to be fed with fibers bya feed roller cooperating therewith and wherein the arrangement is suchthat the fiber transporting periphery of the feed roller lies in thesaid plane containing the fiber transporting periphery of the openingroller and said passage.
 12. A machine according to claim 11, whereinsaid feed roller is provided with teeth or spikes to pick fibers from asliver fed thereto through a sliver feed duct.